The daily traffic, pollution and other urban woes could make you long to travel somewhere tranquil and serene just to breathe fresh air and recharge your energy. Such an experience is waiting for you in Carmen, which is less than two hours drive from Cebu City.

With its short distance (42 kilometers) from the Capitol, Carmen is a convenient weekend getaway for those fed up with their busy routines.

Driving to Carmen offers a refreshing view of the blue seas and the green mountains --- near enough for a day tour but far enough from the heat, dust and congestion of the metropolis.

Located next to Danao City, Carmen is mainly an agricultural town where one can find hectares of land planted with bananas and papayas, and some areas are used as ponds for prawns, while others, for crabs. Its most celebrated product, however, sinamay or abaca hemp which is weaved into bags, furniture, gifts, house wares, toys, fashion accessories and footwear, among others.

During the pre-war period Carmen was one of the Cebu towns known for its sugarcane farms. What remains now of this era is an old sugar mill where the equipment still stands defying time and gathering rust.

As of now, most people who visit Carmen are drawn by its most popular religious place, the St. Benedictine Monastery which has several facilities for the pious including a hill where one can do the Stations of the Cross. A famous landmark at the monastery is a huge image of the Holy Child, the Sr. Sto. Nino. Carmen prides itself as the first place to hold the Sinulog festival, earlier than Cebu City.

Another magnet for tourists in Carmen is the Durano Ecofarm, a mountain resort which has been the town’s bestseller. It has five springwater pools where families can enjoy swimming minus the chlorinated water of many swimming pools in the urban centers. A haven for nature trippers, the pools are built overlooking a river and under the shade of many trees.

Carmen is also home to one of only two waterfalls in the northeastern side of Cebu island, the Mangitngit falls. Now, a view of the falls is the highlight of a trip to the newly built Middle Earth resort, also featuring at least four fresh springwater pools up a mountain.

The Luyang River in Carmen, meanwhile, is a major source of potable water supply of the franchise area of the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) which includes the major cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Lapu-lapu. It is also home of the Shemberg Biotech, Cebu’s leading supplier of carageenan.

Carmen has a lot of tourism and economic potentials waiting to be tapped. Sometime in 2017, a 100-hectare safari for animals will be opened to the public as announced by its owner, Cebu’s pawnshop tycoon Michel Lhuillier. The project is the first and the only of its kind in Cebu.

The town is known for its vast freshwater supply and lush vegetation… and it won’t be long before Carmen hits an all-time tourism high because of its upcoming safari.

Truly, Carmen is the oasis in the north which springs forth pleasant experiences and happy memories.